A House with Many Doors

Raiden blinked at the sheer amount of questions.
"Well, uh,it was invented back in like the 1980s or something, but back then it wasn't as great as what these things are now. It was used for calling people, and maybe sending text messages? Anyway, fast forward to where we are now and whammo, we've got phones that do waaayy more than those old bricks," he explained, as best he could. Although, he didn't understand why she had never seen a phone before. Or even why she didn't know what one was. He rolled with it though, as he does most things in life.

Laurel blinked at the sheer amount of confusion that hit her.

She leaned in towards James. "I'm starting to think your multiple universe theory is actually plausible," she whispered.

"I uh," she said, clearing her throat. "What's a text message? What do you mean you can use it to call people?"

Raiden stared back at her blankly.
"How...how do you not know what those are?"

Laurel pouted slightly. "...Those things don't exist in my world."

"You telling me you're from another world? Like, another dimension?" Raiden asked, confused. He was a believer in parallel universes and whatnot, but he didn't think he'd meet someone from another world like this. This...was sort of awkward.

“That’s what it sounds like,” James interjected.

“I mean, we don’t have phones and stuff so I don’t know,” Laurel added.

As she spoke, he settled on an approach. The fire approach would be a last resort; instead, he would rely on her lack of knowledge when it came to his abilities. She knew that he could change form, but he had only adopted clearly human guises. A much smaller, quicker form would be unanticipated.

But, before he enacted his escape, he had one last thing he had to know.

"So," he said, the smile that flickered across his lips lacking all warmth, "was it you or Auryon that did all of those cruel things she alluded to?"

She shrugs. "None, either, both, take your pick."

"What should we do?" murmured Edwin to himself. There was no use in inspecting the door, as it was, for sure, sealed tight. He began to pace a back and forth.

Adamina decided she could make the best use of her time by resting. She eyed a luxurious, plush-looking couch nearby and sat down on it. She let out a startled noise and jumped back up as she settled on something solid and hard.

Edwin's head shot up and he looked over. "Are you all right?"

Adamina nodded, turning away to hide the red coming into her cheeks at the fact that he had seen her lose her composure so easily. She glanced down at the seat, whereupon she saw a thick, leatherbound book, which wouldn't open to any force. On its outside, there were three symbols: a songbird, a rearing horse, and a rose surrounded by thorns.

Spoiler

Hope you don't mind, sound. This is for future interactions, of course, since Edwin and Mina haven't met Laurel yet.

"Well, I guess it could be," Raiden mused to himself, rubbing his chin.
"In which case, a text message is like writing a letter to someone but like, a heck of a lot quicker and easier, and calling - or, phoning - someone is like speaking to them, except the two talking are usually nowhere near each other," he replied, after a few moments of rubbing his chin in thought.

Laurel inched a little closer, leaning in a bit as she looked at the phone curiously. "Fascinating. Is it magic?"

He held out the phone to her so she could get a better look as he replied
"Urm, I guess you could say that."

"Woah... Can I hold it?" Laurel asked, hands extending towards the phone hopefully.

"Uhhhh...sure, just uh, don't break it please," he said, placing the phone in her hands gently. He was somewhat worried that she'd steal his phone. But she seemed like an alright person, so decided that if she did make a run for it, he'd tackle her to the ground and like, tickle her until she gave it up or something.